#patents who shouldn't be parents

[reasoningdaily]

Two Florida cops — a lieutenant and a detective sergeant — allegedly handcuffed and jailed their 3-year-old son to “discipline” him for having difficulties with potty training.

Daytona Beach Shores police Lt. Michael Schoenbrod told a Department of Children and Families caseworker that he took the boy to headquarters in October and put him behind bars, the News-Journal reported, citing body-cam video.

The child was jailed twice, the first time on Oct. 5 and again the following day, when he was also cuffed, according to the outlet.

“He was crying. I was getting the response I expected from him,” Schoenbrod told the caseworker, the footage from a Volusia County sheriff’s deputy reportedly shows.

He said his son promised to never poop in his pants again after his time in the slammer.

Schoenbrod admitted that he also had resorted to the jail tactic about nine years ago, when he disciplined his then-4-year-old son for hitting a girl in preschool, the newspaper said. Lt. Michael Schoenbrod and Detective Sgt. Jessica Long, of the Daytona Beach Shores Police Department in Florida, allegedly placed their 3-year-old son in jail twice after he had potty-training accidents.Daytona Beach Shores Department of Public Safety

“I took him to the jail and he sat there. And I watched him … and he was crying and everything, and to this day, if you mention, like, that incident, he’s just like, ‘I would never do that again.’ It was effective,” Schoenbrod told the caseworker.

“So that’s why I did it with this. He didn’t hit anybody, but I figured the same thing, discipline. And he didn’t want to go back, so …,” the lieutenant added, according to the report.

It was not immediately clear whether Schoenbrod and Detective Sgt. Jessica Long faced discipline, according to the News-Journal, which said it obtained copies of memos from Public Safety Director Michael Fowler informing the couple about a probe.

The top cop told the paper he would consult with the city attorney before commenting.

Schoenbrod and Long — who live together and have the child together — and their attorney, Michael Lambert, have not responded to the paper’s requests for comments. A Department of Children and Families rep acknowledged a request for comment but did not offer one.

“It’s just disgusting that somebody would drag our family through the mud like this,” Schoenbrod said in the video, while Long could be heard calling the investigation “insane,” the News-Journal reported. Detective Sgt. Jessica Long, the child’s mother, also reportedly faces a professional standards investigation.LinkedIn / Jessica Long

Meanwhile, City Clerk Cheri Schwab said a judge has sealed the records in a March 24 case that lists Schoenbrod “et al.” as plaintiffs and the State Attorney’s Office “et al.” as defendants.

The couple also filed a separate case against State Attorney R.J. Larizza on May 18, but the initial filing and several subsequent motions have been marked as confidential, according to the News-Journal.

Antonio Jaimes, an attorney with the Volusia County Clerk of Court’s Office, told the outlet that the cases “are confidential due to motions for confidentiality filed within the cases.”

But Michael Barfield, director of public access initiatives for the Florida Center for Government Accountability, argued that the internal-affairs documents should be made public.

“A pending motion to determine confidentiality of court records does not have any impact on the city’s IA (internal affairs) investigation,” Barfield told the News-Journal in an email.

“A party cannot make a record that is subject to production under Chapter 119 (of the state public records law) confidential by merely filing a lawsuit requesting confidentiality and then not setting a hearing on the motion,” he added.

A Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokeswoman said she has forwarded a request from the paper about any completed investigation to the public records department for processing. The Daytona Beach Shores Department of Public Safety building.City of Daytona Beach Shores

Former city attorney Lonnie Groot also has reportedly sought records about any officer placing a child in a jail cell, as well as investigations into “alleged child abuse by an officer.”

“This whole matter just does not pass the basic smell test from a transparency and governmental openness perspective,” he wrote City Attorney Becky Vose, the outlet said.

And a former South Daytona police officer who describes himself as a civil-rights activist said that when he requested the findings of the professional standards probe, he was provided an estimate of $3,398.40 − about 40 hours of work at $84.96 per hour — to review and redact the documents. 

“It’s a severe matter of public interest when you have strong allegations of that kind,” Dickinson told the paper. “Rumors are being brought to you by fellow law enforcement … and you want to make sure the stuff they’re saying isn’t true.”

[bats-and-birds-24]

Chapter 10:

Tim finally broke the silence, “So, Jason, um- how have you been since you were resurrected?” 

He cringed at himself as soon as the sentence came out of his mouth. He didn't know Jason before his death, and yet here he was being overly familiar with him.

He tries to correct himself with, “Sorry about that, um- it just that I’m a huge fan of your Robin, you were my inspiration and everything, I used to follow you around on your patrols when you were a kid and-”

Jason’s brain stopped working at “used to follow him around as a kid.” How long did B know about Tim’s existence? Did he already have a backup in case something happened to him? He wouldn't put something like that past Bruce, this was the man who kept notes on how to take down his closest friends in a fight. 

Mostly he felt like a fool. A fool for trusting Bruce. He took advantage of Dick when he was grieving the loss of his family, he took advantage of Jason when he was homeless, and- “how would Bruce take advantage of a Bristol kid like Tim? He probably got everything he wanted.” The pit whispered in his ears.

Jason shook the green out of his vision and looked at the kid once more. Tim said he was following Jason and Bruce around on patrol, there would be no way for him to do that if he had attentive guardians, he was probably neglected as a child and latched on to his hero and the first adult to give him attention.

“It was pretty easy to follow you guys around since my parents were probably in an archaeological digs somewhere.-” Tim rambled on.

“Hypothesis confirmed.” Jason thought bitterly. As jealous as he was towards the kid, he was just another child put into danger by Bruce. 

He cut him off with “Do you really think you became Robin of your own free will Tim?”

Tim looked up at him bewildered, “I’m not sure what you mean, Bruce didn't even know I existed until I forced him to make me Robin.”

“Tim you didn't force him to make you Robin, he manipulated you into becoming Robin, do you really expect Bruce, the world’s greatest detective, to not know that you were stalking him?” Jason spat out.

Tim drew back, “Of course he didn't know I was there! He didn't want me to be Robin after you died, but his methods of crime suppression became too violent afterwards since he didn't have a Robin to keep him in check! It was for the good of Gotham!”

Jason didn't know whether he should laugh or cry, “Tim you're a child! You shouldn't have to maintain a grown man’s emotions for him!” He should be doing normal kid stuff like going to school and hanging out with friends, not fighting criminals and ending up in life or death situations.

Tim stomach churned, of course his idol didn't want Tim to be Robin, he could live with Jason thinking that he was a poor successor, but he also seemed to think that Bruce manipulated him into becoming his sidekick, which was patently untrue. He had to correct it.

“Jason, I wasn't manipulated.” Tim gently stated.

Jason's anger burst out, unable to contain the pit any longer, “Of course that's what you would say! He has you wrapped around his finger! He doesn't think of you as anything more than a tool!”

Tim’s anger was reaching its limits as well, “Well, how is being Robin with Batman any more dangerous for a kid than being trained as an assassin under Talia Al Ghul!”

“Shut up! It's not the same!” Jason replied hotly. 

Tim could feel tears pricking his eyes. So much for a calm talk with Jason, his idol.

That was when the door swung open and Talia appeared, “Aziz, take Jason to his chambers, I will meet with him later.” She walked straight up to Tim, gave Jason a look that meant that she would be back for him, and led Tim out into the hallway.

“This isn't your fault child, you shouldn't have put all this pressure on yourself to bring him back.” Tim tried to focus on her words, as the rest of the world blurred under his tears.

[tbhimnoteasyonmyself]

TAN IS NEW

Hello, fellow associates, I, local deranged man, bring you (by request of @ayansbff who said I should "go make a post and patent it fr." thank you, Naga <3) once again a theory as insane as whatever has been going on in the ASOIAF fandom in the last 10 years (but no, I'm not here to tell you Tan is a horse or New is a faceless man).

For this week's episode: Tan is New (but with some spice).

Pls beware, this will require a certain level of "bear with me", ok? Ok.

Also: long ass post, guys. Be prepared.

So, 1st things 1st: New is obviously studying abroad.

This would mean that, in all the episodes we've seen of the flashback, we wouldn't have seen New. Because he's literally in a different country (cue theory: New is Mhok working as a cook in Hawaii ksksksk /j).

Nevertheless, in the latest events of the past storyline, Non has just gone M.I.A. Which is definitely something you'd tell the kid's brother about. I'd be pretty pissed if I was New and no one fucking told me about my brother vanishing.

(I think it could definitely be argued that their parents might try to hide the whole getting involved with money laundry and even the pedophilic child revenge porn sex tape on Twitter thing, especially their mother. bc, considering their treatment of Non this episode, it would definitely cross my mind that they'd think something along the lines of "New shouldn't be worried about what his fuck up of a brother is involved with, he should just focus on his study". And idk if Thailand's national news would arrive to New in the US just like that (maybe, maybe not, I won't try to speculate too much, I think it's too much of a wild card). YET, I still think, regardless, they'd have their limits even if the rest was true and they'd tell him about his brother being literally MISSING. So yeah...)

So back on track: sure, the police "think" Non has run away with Keng

Or, was convinced by Tee's uncle to accept that storyline

but Non's parents don't believe that shit

("They're TRYING to make our son LOOK LIKE" not "They think our son HAS")

And I think the same feeling could've been passed to New by his parents or just by New himself. But even if not, I think it's pretty reasonable to assume he'd come back to Thailand after that news. Like, if my brother was missing, I'd feel pretty bad, my parents would feel pretty bad and I'd want to go back home and be with them a bit, follow things up close, at the very least.

So, assuming that's true, it's not weird to presume New could be back in Thailand by the time The Hidden Character (the film Non wrote, not the BOC reality show thing) airs. Which would lead us to:

Now, I've seen people say it's Tan, I've seen people say it's White, I've seen people say it's Bible (?)... To me, that's Tan. The voice that calls "Phee" seems to me that's Mio's voice and the person we see in the door, albeit he does resemble Bible, reads to me as him as well.

Besides, we see him being introduced to the class in the ep.9 preview so, yeah, it could be to throw us off, but I genuinely think it's just bc it's Tan.

Regardless, even if not, Tan will appear next episode. So... There's that. Question is: why?

We see both Tan and Phee moving to the gang's class next episode, which the gang points out as "weird". Now, idk why it would be weird to see people change schools in 12th grade but fine, I'm not gonna argue, maybe they know something I don't. Ig you could argue it's bc it's the last year but I'd say people have issues all the time (being the last year of school doesn't change that) and people also move houses all the time. So I wouldn't question it but ok. Moving on.

We know Phee has a connection to Non (as his ex-boyfriend) but we don't know why Tan would be there too. Sure, we can argue Phee has to have friends. But, ngl, if my friend asked me to move schools bc he wants to find out what happened to his bf who mysteriously disappeared, I'd politely decline. I'd support him in his endeavours, of course, but I wouldn't change my entire life for it. I could even go as much as to help him befriend them and hang out with the fuckers but I wouldn't move schools, I think.

So Tan must have a bigger motive, right? And what bigger motive than being the brother of Non, am I right?

Furthermore, we have to consider legal matters. They're all minors. Phee's father, of course, knows about Phee being, at least, friends with Non. And, even if he told him to stay out of trouble and that he himself would not go around poking in the business for Phee's own safety, I think he'd be okay with Phee moving schools for grief reasons (a.k.a being close to Non because that was his school) or even bc he knew Phee was trying to talk to his friends (I don't think he suspects the kids too much and honestly that's a terrible lack of sight on his behalf but, I mean, they're kids, I think it's fair to assume they're innocent).

But what about Tan? Assuming Tan is not Non's brother, would his parents let him move schools to the school where all those nasty kids who keep appearing on the news study??? I don't think so. Sounds dangerous. Things change, of course, if Tan is not actually Tan but New.

Non's parents, despite their obvious lack of parenting skills, care about him. He's their son. They'd want to know what happened. And, sure, New getting involved would be terrible for them (bc he's their son and clearly the favourite child and god forbid he wastes his potential studying there bc of Non's failures AGAIN), but if New specifically requested that, would they go against it? Would they go against their talented son and his show of altruism and love for his brother?? Especially when the police are not doing anything and it's just trying to close the damn case??? I don't think so.

Thus: Tan is New.

"But what about his legal name???", I hear you say. "If they're siblings they'll have the same last name!!" And yeah. That's true. Especially in Thailand where most surnames are exclusive to a singular family. But I thin- "What about the age gap??? New is older than Non!! His mom even refers to him as Non's phi!!!" Yes. I know. That's where the spice comes in:

NEW IS ADOPTED.

There, I dropped the bomb. This would mean that, maybe, his legal name wasn't changed from what it originally was. Sure, it could've, since he's now part of a different family but they also could've kept the original surname. Which is likely if New wasn't adopted in a normal fashion.

We have to consider how poor Non's family seems to be. Whether that's a new situation or it has always been like this we don't know. But that's something. Now, I'm not Thai nor do I live in Thailand but from what I read, income does factor a lot into whether or not a family can adopt a child (at least in theory). So I'd assume a poor family would struggle with it. Nevertheless, it seems Thai law puts a lot of value into family ties with the child so, maybe New was someone else's child originally like of a brother or a sister of one of Non's parents. Or maybe something else entirely, I don't know. I don't think it matters that much.

"That still doesn't explain the age gap though. Tan is only 2 months older than Non!!"

Well, that's still older. Would that qualify him as "phi", idk? Both Pimpa (Non and New's mother) and Non refer to him that way. But maybe that's just another way for the series to tell us there's a ver clear hierarchy between these brothers and Non comes second. Idk. (if you're Thai or know Thai culture well and would like to add input here, pls do)

"WHAT ABOUT THE PICTURES, DANTE???"

Ok, yeah, I know. They make a compelling case.

(I took the liberty to brighten them bc OMG WHY IS THIS SHOW SO DARK????)

And yes, in the picture further to the left it does seem like they have a huge age gap but also, in the picture right next to it, it doesn't seem so (in fact the kid in blue seems about the same age in both pics, only the other one doesn't). So maybe the kid in pic one is not Non, it's some other kid (could be, especially considering he's wearing blue and, as the fandom's most dear colour theorist @shannankle has pointed out on a lot of posts but most especially this one: Non's colour is red). Or maybe it is one of them and they just grew up at different paces, idk. It happens, man.

TBH I'm not greatly concerned about the pics. What I am concerned about is the narrative implications of this. That his parents's (and, as previously established, especially his mother's [who is the most present parent in his life, as stated by the parents themselves in ep.8])

favourite kid is the one who isn't even theirs by blood. That their favourite son is the one that is not actually their son (I obviously do believe adopted kids are as much people's kids as biological ones, family is made not inherited, but I mean this as strictly talking about the blood relations of these people)! That no one ever loves Non enough to actually save him from doom (bc, like a fairytale princess, the thing that could prevent Non's demise was love).

If his peers had loved him enough he wouldn't have felt the need to cling to that awful gang. If Jin had loved him enough he would've helped him get away from Tee in this episode, at the very least. If his parents had loved him enough, they would've prevented him from falling prey to so many people or, at least, would've been trustworthy for him to talk to and helped him get out of the situations he was getting himself into.

This would also play well with the character's names:

Non. That which/whom isn't.

Who isn't seen, who isn't heard, who isn't loved, who isn't perfect, who isn't who people expected him to be, who isn't the gang's friend, who isn't his parent's perfect son (not blaming him but that's how they see it), who isn't the boyfriend Phee hoped he would be (not blaming him for the sexual assault he suffered, just seeing it through Phee's eyes, pls don't misinterpret).

New. That which/whom is fresh, original. That which just arrived.

Who is a prodigy, a talent, one of a kind. Who is so different from Non and his "crooked ways". Who arrived at the family later. Who just arrived in Thailand, who just arrived in Non's school. Who is a new person, who has a new identity, who has a new life goal.

So, yeah, it is a bit crazy and depends on a lot of circumstantial and potential facts that have not been hinted towards AT ALL by the show. And I recognize that. But I think this is what is fun about theories and speculation and, even if this is not true (likely), I still had fun crafting this and showing it to you guys. At the very least it's entertaining and keeps us thinking.

Pls feel free to add stuff or question stuff in this post, I'd love for us to work together as a community for our little murder gays show. Hehe.

Also, I'll leave you a question myself: if this is true, does it mean Phee and Tan are working together as the killers, only one of them is killing or neither is committing murder? 🤔

[madamegemknight]

How about MOTU hot takes? From any iteration (the 80s cartoon, the comics, the cgi reboot, the other serious reboot)

rubs my hands together maniacally. boy oh boy crispy you are ENABLING me here we go >:3

The 1987 movie really isn't as bad as people make it out to be. It's not great, don't get me wrong, but the people who made it were clearly passionate about what they were doing and it's a fun (if somewhat aggravating at points) ride. Dolph Lundgren is a good He-Man who understands that the character is just as much about his heart as he is his muscles, the way it and the Power Tour serve as sister experiences to each other with their incorporation of music and Earth storylines is fascinating to examine, and while Julie's subplot about her dead parents is utterly pointless, I think Kevin and Julie are two genuinely likable characters who deserve a second chance in the grander scheme of things.

The Greatest Show on Eternia is the worst episode of the Filmation series and should have never been made, but the way Masters of The Multiverse chose to "address" it was immature, childish, and nearly tipped the comic into edgelord territory for me. If something is bad, you should take the time to figure out what went wrong, then try and fix it - you shouldn't murder the only tolerable character in that episode and then have an aside about how the Eternian Circus is being thrown into chaos because of that murder that does nothing to progress the overall plot!!! wadda heck!!!!

CGI!Krass did literally nothing wrong. She was a deeply traumatized kid who was absolutely correct regarding pretty much everything (especially wanting to guard the Tiger Tribe instead of running off and ignoring it forever like Adam did, considering the later reveal that the Dark Masters kidnapped Justine), and the fact that the show is more willing to blame her flawed behavior on "evil rock that makes you evil in her helmet" than acknowledge she watched her parents die and literally cannot be in enclosed spaces without Adam as a result is legitimately disgusting. CGI tries so hard to have their cake and eat it too that they end up portraying Krass as in the wrong for wanting things to stay the same with Adam while ALSO establishing in one of the tie-in books that if she'd never met Adam she would have never even partially recovered from her trauma.

Speaking of which, considering that this IS apparently a hot take outside of my own little circle of incredibly cool and correct mutuals: CGI Season 3 is bad. It is so bad it makes the flaws of the previous two seasons, which I could mostly ignore up until that point, painfully obvious. It is genuinely upsetting to me that a series where the SOLE SURVIVOR OF A GENOCIDE BRAINWASHED INTO BELIEVING THE PROPAGANDA HE WAS FED ABOUT THE COLONIZATION OF HIS PEOPLE is made into a villain will be some kid's introduction to MOTU, ESPECIALLY considering how tolerant and accepting the Filmation series was.

Orko is a good character and plays a vital role in the franchise overall! Wow yeah it's weird to remember how that used to be a hot take in any non-tumblr MOTU fan community until like...2021. Crazy that huh.

Maybe not a hot take per se, but I don't personally think that Trollans have that different of a lifespan/age rage from Eternians. As far as I'm aware, the only implication of that being true is from the UK comics, and even there it's said that "it has been suggested" that Orko is over 500, not that he is - and this is also the same comic that said that nobody knows what Trolla is like, something that is patently not true, so I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that maybe the UK comics have some slightly incorrect information and possibly shouldn't be blindly trusted when determining major factors about a character! There are several times in the Filmation series that he either flirts with or shows a very clear attraction to adult Eternians (something that would be Weird if he was aging at a different rate than an Eternian), and while he does call Adam "kid" when they first meet, that's just how Orko talks - he says "atta boy" unironically for crying out loud. I have always envisioned Orko being around the same age as Adam, if a little bit younger, and while Trollans probably do age at a different rate on account of being a different species, it's probably not to that extreme of a difference otherwise it would have been mentioned elsewhere.

Netflix She-Ra is not special for having Adora start out as a brainwashed soldier who has a crisis over realizing she's been fed imperialist/fascist propaganda her entire life. That is literally the plot of The Secret of The Sword, which was released in 1985. I love Netflix She-Ra dearly and always will, as without it I would have never become a fan of MOTU in the first place, but head in my hands if someone calls it bold and innovative for doing things that the OG series did back in the 80s one more time, I am gonna wind up on the evening news 🙃

[colorfuldonutrunaway]

I made a character sheet for one of my ocs. Took a lot of bravery to do it, but I made it.🥲 I wasn't sure how to handle the two boxes under the main picture, and I should add that this character is AroAce.🏳️‍🌈

Metrics explained here:

*Name: Peter Romanov was named purely by his mother. I would go into detail about how his patronymic works but I'm not very sure on how it works in Russian culture, so I'll keep my mouth shut. Anyways, Roman prefers to be called, well, Roman because he despises his first name for some reason.

*Nicknames: If you want to avoid a death glare, call him by Roman or Wolf.

*Race/Species: Before he became the Wolf, he was a first-generation Russian American human. After getting diagnosed with a supposedly rare fatal muscle wasting disease, he secretly began injecting himself with wolf DNA on the genetic level. This was actually working really well...until an assistant startled him during one such procedure and he injected a massive amount into his cells...and mutated into his current state. The unstable state of his cells means that every 5 days, he turns back into a human, and after five days again, he returns to the Wolf, rinse and repeat.

*Age: 30 as of 2024, being born in 1993 after his parents left Russia for the Americas.

*Gender: Born Male, identifies as such.

*Alignment: Wanting to follow the pursuit of knowledge and science for the betterment of mankind, Roman ignores the fact that he was stripped of his license to run a laboratory (after the genetics incident) and continues operating to create new inventions. Problem is, he can't patent them under his own name...

*Class/Job: As stated above, Roman shouldn't be operating a laboratory. He was banned from the high council of intellectuals and was forbidden from ever using their tools to create or invent again. That hasn't stopped him from creating a laboratory from materials gathered on the black market, hiring minions from criminal origins, and operating secretly underneath a normal Pennsylvanian town as a scientist.

*Perception and Communication: He takes advantage of his improved wolf senses to observe every detail around himself. As for communication, he's a great orator and debater, but he can get frustrated if people don't understand his high tech jargon.

*Persuasion and Mediation: He listens well and can use it to his advantage when trying to persuade someone into doing something for him and when mediating an issue between two groups. He's not the best at it, but he's good enough for most scenarios.

*Literacy and Creativity: Raised by a genius mother who noticed that her child's intellect was increasing at an abnormally fast pace, she opted to guarantee that his childhood was to be surrounded by folklore, documentaries, and educational materials. This led to a man that could be omnidisciplinary in Engineering, Robotics, programming (Python/HTML/C++), Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Genetics, mathematics, and neurology. Not surprising for an IQ that reached 300 at 16 years old. (he refuses to do actual medicine though.) He also grew up speaking English and Russian at home.

*Cooking: He can bake, but actually making original meals is kinda hard for him. Especially as the Wolf, because it's led to him just settling for any food with meat in it, even if it's raw.

*Tech Savvy: From as young as 4 years old, he was fixing phones and taking apart cars.

*Combat: Roman took martial arts classes at 16, but rarely uses what he's learned. Especially after becoming the Wolf, because now he has boosted strength that allows him to easily knock out people with a punch or throw them. Not very good with guns either.

*Survival: He learned basic survival skills from the numerous books he's read, but has never really exercised it or gone camping to hone it. As the Wolf, he does have some natural instincts that help.

*Stealth: Ugh. He's never had a reason to be stealthy as a human. This worsened when he turned into a hybrid, because his clunky, furry body is harder to hide. Being 6 ft 7 inches in Wolf form doesn't help.

*Street smarts: Roman has never known a normal childhood due to his rapidly increasing intelligence netting him media attention and breezing him through school. Therefore, he's never been able to make friends with kids his age, and his overprotective parents kept him from exploring the world, leading to his street smarts being shockingly low.

*Seduction: No...just...no.

*Luck: Not anymore or less lucky than a normal person.

*Handling Animals: When in Wolf form, it's very difficult to handle animals without them freaking out on him. In human form? Animals love him.

*Pacifying Children: He's good at distracting kids with a story or a piece of candy, but his stronger senses mean that a child crying is painful to listen to.

*Strength: Probably due to his wasting disease, he's weaker in human form, (as in, weaker than the average human), but notoriously strong as a Wolf.

*Dexterity: Pretty average. Struggles in Wolf form due to not being used to the big furry paws.

*Health: As mentioned before, weak in human form, strong and vibrant in Wolf-man form.

*Energy: Usually in the middle.

*Beauty: Considered handsome in human form. Considered cute fluffy doggo in Wolf form.

*Style: While he's usually in a lab coat, whenever he ventures into the town, he's wearing designer clothes that fit his Wolf form well.

*Hygiene: So for some reason, Wolf still has human lymph nodes in the usual spots, meaning that he also sweats from those areas. So he has to shower daily or else he develops a pretty wild smell.

*Intelligence: From the age of 2, Roman's brain suddenly developed at an insanely fast speed. Nobody knows why this happened exactly, but they had no choice to accept it as Roman began to pass classes flawlessly, finish entire novels in hours, and do complex equations by himself. He's graduated highschool by the age of 12 and helped teach college classes at the age of 15.

*Happiness: Despite his current situation, he's really good at seeing the bright side of things. Roman actually enjoys being in his Wolf form, and feels more free now that the council isn't constantly watching over his back.

*Spirituality: Raised Christian, Roman became agnostic around his pre-teens, and had stayed that way since.

*Confidence: He's very confident in his skills, but not to the point where he thinks he's infallible.

*Humor: His humor tends to vary greatly. While he doesn't make jokes himself, he does find other people's jokes and references entertaining.

*Anxiety: Like with the Happiness stat, Roman doesn't let much get to him. His Wolf affliction actually saved his life, as it stopped and partially reversed the progression of the wasting disease, leading him to be relatively positive.

*Patience: He's learned to be patient with the average person since they can't make hundreds of calculations a minute in their brain like he can, though it does have limits if he can tell if someone is intentionally trying to be an obstacle in his mission.

*Passion: Developing his love for science from his mother, Roman wants a world that is as free from suffering as humanly possible, and he will invent and create as much as he can.

*Charisma: While he gives off a cool and professional aura, his social development was still stunted by his strange childhood.

*Empathy: He can feel like other people, but he sometimes thinks that other people blow things out of proportion, or can solve their problems more easily than they think.

*Generosity: Gives to those that severely need it, doesn't give to much of anyone else.

*Wealth: How does Roman fund a laboratory and a couple dozen minions? Hacking banks obviously. He's good enough that the possibility of police discovering that it's him doing it is so unlikely it's insane, and he usually steals enough that it can pay the bills and all of his minions while still having some left over for leisurely pursuits.

*Aggression: He can be fierce when he needs to be, but prefers giving off a stoic energy usually.

*Libido: Never had much of one at all. Being aromantic asexual helps in making sure that this isn't ever an issue he needs to care about anyway.

I'll add more later, but I'm tired and it's getting late.

[sephirthoughts]

3, 15, 19 for vincent and/or genesis :3c

oooh hoo hoo making me choose between my sons, are ya? joke's on you sucker i pick both!!

3. Obscure headcanon Vincent

He's Wutaian. He's Wutaian he's Wutaian he's Wutaian. Half, to be precise, as his father was clearly not. I don't know how this is even an obscure headcanon at this point because he so clearly is (to me) that it baffles me that it's not the widespread theory.

Also I could be wrong but that seems highly unlikely as I have never been wrong ever in my life.

3. Obscure headcanon Genesis

Unlike many kids who get singled out for their hair color or other physical traits they have no control over, Genesis always loved his red hair and refused to feel weird or othered about it. No one else had red hair, so it was clearly an indicator of something special about him. He was prettier and more unique than them, so they were naturally jealous, which motivated their remarks. He believed it so firmly, that the attitude in Banora began to shift toward seeing red hair as a rare and desirable gift, rather than something weird to be mocked (it did help that he was the child of the most influential and wealthy people in the town).

Angeal always loved Gen's red hair, but he kept that to himself, because all the boys that approached Genesis immediately complimented his hair, and it stripped the uniqueness and sincerity out of what would have been a very heartfelt statement about the thing that he adored so much.

15. Worst thing they’ve ever done Vincent

Vincent was a Turk, so he's certainly done some very morally questionable things. For example, disposal of witnesses. Shinra has a strict policy of leaving no evidence of wrongdoing whatsoever. It was up to the Turks to clean up whatever mess had been left behind, in the wake of the most recent PR disaster waiting to happen. Vincent knew that going in. It was part of the job, and if he couldn't do the job, he shouldn't have signed up for it. Once it was done, it was done, and you moved on to the next assignment. Guilt and regret would only lead to hesitation, in the future, and impact your performance. He understood all of that.

It's just that…some of those kids were probably too young to even understand what was happening, let alone remember and tell anyone. Was there really no other choice?

15. Worst thing they’ve ever done Genesis

He did kill his adoptive parents, but he doesn't feel the least bit bad about that, so it doesn't count.

However, in a moment of anger, as a young First, he called Sephiroth a pathetic orphan and told him being the best at fighting wouldn't bring his parents back. Sephiroth just looked thoughtful, and then nodded in agreement. The boy's quiet acceptance of his cruel but not-untrue jab haunted Genesis for years afterward. Sephiroth claimed not to recall the incident, but insisted he wouldn't have been hurt by such a patently accurate statement, anyway.

19. Vices/bad habits Vincent

Vincent smokes!!! Or, more accurately, he did. A long time ago. Most of the Turks take up smoking, to calm their nerves or kill time on shitty stakeouts, or just to socialize with the others. It's pretty much endemic to the job. Vincent was no different. That's why he isn't bothered by Cid's smoking in the least, and actually rather likes the comforting familiarity of the smell. He doesn't smoke as a habit, anymore, because nicotine has zero effect on him, rendering the activity pointless from that standpoint, but he will smoke a cigarette with Cid ever so often, from nostalgia. Sometimes it's nice to pretend to be alive again.

19. Vices/bad habits Genesis

He has a terrible habit of getting riled up, in the moment, and saying the worst/cruelest/most dramatic thing possible. He doesn't mean it, usually, and he's not actually a cruel or vindictive person—and it's not like he hasn't tried to rein it in, he has! But he literally can't control his tongue when his anger runs high (he certainly has an undiagnosed executive function disorder). Without fail, he winds up saying something nasty again, and then regretting it yet again. He always apologizes sincerely and tries to make it up to the person, but they're not always appeased by yet another after-the-fact mea culpa.

In the case that it's too late to apologize…well, those words just echo in his mind, forever, like an ugly litany, memorializing everything he regrets.

Thank you so much for the ask, these ones were really fun!! 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

[starlightsearches]

Homewrecker

hey all! i first started writing this after i watched the movie, and then i was possessed by the need to fuck that old man and i finished it off. hope you like it!! comments, likes, and reblogs sustain me 💖

📼✨ mixtape milestone ✨📼 requests are still open!

Burt Fabelman x F! Reader

Warnings: NSFW 18+ only, PIV sex, unprotected sex, creampie, infidelity, age gap but reader is of age, car sex, language, smoking, maybe a tiny bit ooc because i only saw the movie once. Let me know if I missed anything uwu

The lit end of your cigarette smolders just outside the glow from the Fabelman's windows, and you take a deep drag, blowing the smoke from your nose, watching the stars flicker on and off in the black sky. There's the tinkling of a piano on the other side of the wall, and a giggle from one of the children—the children who had been sound asleep moments ago, before their parents returned.

"You shouldn't be doing that, you know."

That's Mr. Fabelman at the door. His face is still in shadow, but you catch the gleam of his glasses, and the red center of your cigarette in the dark green of his eyes.

"Why not? I'm old enough," you ask, but you still stub what's left of the smoke out on the bottom of your white patent-leather heels.

Mr. Fabelman shuts the door behind himself, stepping out onto the porch beside you, pretending like his eyes hadn't just been tracing over the shape of your ankle and the curve of your calf. 

"It's a dirty habit. Girls shouldn't smoke—not if they're nice girls."

You let out a soft laugh. You are not a nice girl.

Nice girls don't tell tales to all the neighbors about how much they love kids—how they're always willing to babysit, if needed, eyeing up fathers from the front porch as they guide their wives into the car. They don't ride their bikes on windy days while married men mow their lawns, waving like you don't see them trying to steal a glance up your skirt. They don't sneak through parent's rooms after the children have been put to bed to touch the things he's touched, spraying clouds of his cologne into the air, just to breathe it in.

Nice girls don't dream every night about fucking men twice their age.

"What should girls my age do?" you ask, wetting your lips.

"Oh, you know," he glances down, still shy like a little boy when he's fully grown, "you should be going on dates. Going to drive-ins and out to dinner with boys your age."

"Boys my age?"

You scuff your shoe against the concrete when he doesn't answer, and Mr. Fabelman flushes under your gaze. He's not used to being flirted with—which makes it all the more fun, knowing that he loves the attention you're giving him and he knows he shouldn't. Mr. Fabelman tucks his hands impotently into his pockets, and one of them emerges with a fold of bills.

"Here's this," he gestures to his hand with a nod of his head, "for your trouble."

You brush his hand out of the way, letting your touch linger.

"It was no trouble at all, Mr. Fabelman."

The tips of your fingers just wrap over his knuckles. His skin is warmer than the night air.

"Please, call me Burt."

You stand there, letting the silence speak, your touch burning against his hand. The light goes off in the living room, and you imagine the sound of footsteps, but Mrs. Fabelman doesn't peek her head past the curtain or take a glance out the door to check on her husband. The bedroom light switches on above you, casting a glow over the yard.

Burt shuffles back a step. "I'd be happy to give you a ride home, or-"

"Oh, no, thank you. It's a nice night, and not too far a walk."

Neither of you make a move—still as statues, besides the breeze that plays with your hem as it passes by. The light upstairs goes out a few moments later. After a pause, Burt's shoulders drop, like he'd been holding his breath.

He pauses before he speaks, licks his lips. "Do you have any more of those cigarettes?"

Burt loosens his tie just before he lights it, breathing in deep while the little flame still illuminates the sheen of sweat on his face and the tense lines of his neck. He passes you the cigarette between two of his long, lean fingers. The filter is still a little wet from his lips.

He doesn't even notice you're watching him, eyes locked on a house across the street as you both lean back against the window. His distraction serves your purposes fine; you can take him in properly, the curve of his cheeks and turn of his nose.

You pass the cigarette back to him. Smoke pours from his mouth, and the words follow as an afterthought.

"My wife . . . I- she doesn't love me anymore."

"Oh." That's quite a confession. Your heart patters at the cool look in his eyes when he passes back the smoke. "I'm sorry."

He brushes off the apology like he knows you don't mean it, or wouldn't want it if you did.

"I think I may have done something wrong. I keep thinking, maybe if I- maybe she would want to stay with me if I were . . . better-looking."

He drops his head, a look of distaste wrinkling his lips, like the words were bitter coming out.

"You can't blame yourself for that-"

Burt quiets you with a hand on your shoulder. "Do you think I'm dull? Be honest."

"Mr. Fabelman, I-" His hand is heavy and large, spanning half your back, tips of his fingers almost brushing your spine. His thumb just rests against the delicate skin of your neck, and as much as you've thought about the way his touch would feel, your mouth still goes dry.

Burt falters, pulling back slightly, misreading the signs. "No, don't answer that. I shouldn't have asked."

You're feeling a little impulsive—not willing to lose his attention so soon after first having it—and so you take his hand in yours before he can step away.

"I think you're very handsome, Burt. Honest."

Not as honest as you could be, but honest. You want him to feel good about himself—feel desirable—but not at the expense of your own pride.

Or maybe that's just what you want to believe about yourself, because when you feel his rough grip at your neck, pride is the last thing on your mind.

His kiss is messy and contradictory—hands a little harsh as they pull you closer, positioning you the way he likes, like a little doll, but his mouth is tender against yours.

You stand there, stunned, and Burt loses his nerve, stepping back again, a failed apology on his trembling lips. They're still shaking when you kiss him back.

Fuck, he feels like heaven, with your hands cupping his round cheeks, the frames of his glasses nudging against your nose, the little click of your teeth against his when he parts his lips to taste you.

You'd never pull away from him if you could help it. You're aching to keep him close, a whine on your lips when he peels away from you.

His chest heaves, and Burt places his hands on his hips. He stares at you like a problem to be solved. Like he's trying to get to your root.

You want to feel him picking you apart. Want it bad enough your thighs press together.

"Actually, I think I'll take that ride, now."

The stretch is . . . god, it's something else.

You had guessed as much, grinding against his lap in the car's front seat, peppering Burt's lips with feverish kisses and pressing your tits more fully into his hands. He's clumsy with you, in the same way boys your age are—like he's fallen into a pattern with his wife, so late in their marriage that he hardly has to consider what she likes any more. 

But he's considering you, listening for any sounds you might make over the chorus of his heavy breaths. Watches your lips part when he guides your hips down against his. Hears the throaty moan when you feel the fucking log he's carrying around in his pants all day against your dripping panties.

When he pulls his cock from his trousers, Burt looks up at you nervously, stroking his length with soft, short movements, just barely nudging at your clit when he shifts it beneath your skirt. Your tongue clicks wetly against the roof of your mouth, nails carving through his hair.

“Fuck, you’re so big,” you tell him, and you mean it when you say it, which is new. He’s a little stunned, actually, lips parted and hand still. His wife must be used to him by now.

Lucky her.

“Really?” he whispers.

You nod, chewing on your lip. “Do you think it’ll fit?”

Burt shudders beneath you, like he’s physically restraining himself. He can’t even speak. He just nods, pulls you down over him by your hip. 

You might wake the neighbors the way you cry out for him. Might wake up the whole goddamn state of Arizona when Burt sinks you down to the hilt and the sting reaches all the way into your throat.

“Are you alright?” 

He pets a few hairs out of your face, admiring your already wrecked expression. It’s just what you wanted. It’s too much. 

You’re too full of him to speak, so you just nod, shifting your hips back and forth to feel the edges of him knocking around inside your dripping cunt. The soreness is quickly fading, but the fullness does not, and when you shift just right, he nudges against a part of you that has your eyes wide open, not in pain, but with pleasure.

“Oh,” you gasp, doing it again, but harder, some of his length dragging against your swollen, puffy lips before you swallow it down again, humming at the relief.

Burt’s reading the signs, guiding your hips down over him, his hands spanning your waist.

“Does that feel good?” he asks, and you nod, vision blurring a little when your eyes roll back. You can tell it feels good for him, with the way his dick twitches inside of you, how insistent he is with his grip. His chest is heaving, sweat collecting in the collar of his nice dress-shirt, and you’re leaving wrinkles all over the front of it, clinging to him with tense fists.

He bounces you more firmly against him, impaling you on his cock over and over again, so far inside of you it's like you can feel your guts rearranging themselves to make more room for him.

“I’m close,” you whimper, but he has to know that. He couldn’t not know it with the way you’re moaning with every breath, your thighs shaking on either side of his wide, perfect lap.

Burt’s eyes are shut, brow stern, like he’s thinking hard, so focused on the places where your bodies meet that he can’t risk looking at you, your pretty, ruined face too much of a distraction. He nods again, glasses fogged at the edges and slipping down his nose, letting a quiet moan out of his parted lips. 

With shaking hands and a quivering cunt, you press at the bridge of his glasses, sliding them back into place. From somewhere far away, he smiles. 

The pressure in your gut builds and builds, but it’s that smile that really sends you over the edge, muscles clamping around his cock as the bliss spreads through you, reaching all the way to the tips of your fingers, shooting off fireworks behind your eyes.

Burt tilts your mouth towards his with a hand at your chin, gripping your tightly while his lips explore yours. Something sticky and wet rolls down your thigh, his cock spilling heavy streams of cum deep inside your pussy. Your cunt clenches involuntarily, like it’s trying to steal out every last drop.

Burt’s head thumps back against the headrest, and you watch him recover from the high, drops of sweat traveling down his neck, throat shaking with every breath he takes.

You try to shift off him, but he’s still a little hard, and you’re too sore to lift yourself enough for him to slip out.

But Burt doesn’t seem to mind. He pets a heavy hand over your side, looking up at you through half-lidded, content eyes.

“How’d you like to watch the kids again next week?”

[pingnova]

Generative "AI", American copyright, and fanworks

Many folks have questions about what generative "AI" tools mean for copyright - and fanworks like fanfic and fanart. I've compiled here a list of basic reading on the status of fanworks in the copyright world and what AI is, as well as an evolving list of legal coverage of machine-made works.

The short and dirty:

Fanworks are not legally derivative, they are transformative, which you might recognize from the name of Ao3's parent org the Organization for Transformative Works. Generative "AI" content is derivative, which is not legally allowed without proper licensing. Fanfiction and AI output aren't the same thing, but corporations would like you to think so. They'd like you to think anything if it meant they could once again gain the momentum to change copyright law in their favor, whether that meant scrapping it or expanding it to their tastes. The articles I include can hopefully help elaborate.

The basics of fanwork and copyright law:

Rebecca Tushnet, Legal Fictions: Copyright, Fan Fiction, and a New Common Law, 17 Loy. L.A. Ent. L. Rev. 651 (1997). https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/elr/vol17/iss3/8 (full text, pdf)

Fanworks rely on fulfilling the transformative portion of the fair use test in copyright law. They also shouldn't make money, in order to not compete with the original work.

Can generative AI output or training material be fair use? Overview of case law as we wait for the outcome of multiple lawsuits addressing this question. (Sep 22 2023)

What is the "AI" we keep hearing about anyway?

Statistics, machine learning, and artifical intelligence are the same thing - but "AI" rakes in more cash and acclaim

Generative AI is derivative and can only create what it has been fed, which perpetuates social ills but also illustrates what it really is - not human "intelligence", but a statistical machine

For example, fanfiction generated by a number of the free big name tools somehow manages to be straight and confusingly narrated

Why are corporations so invested in generative AI? AI in general?

An interview with an AI engineer who uses AI to generate endless patent applications - to profit from ideas before they are even invented

If corporations all use the same AI to fix housing prices as a cartel, they want the feds to agree its the machine's fault, not theirs

Even if generative AI improves to the point that it is totally unbiased and can write just as well as a human, it is still a machine. A tool, not a person. Corporations will try to scapegoat it by confusing the conversation.

Recent coverage on AI and copyright:

DC copyright court strikes down machine ownership: copyright protection is only for humans (Aug 18 2023)

Generative AI use core issue in Writer's Guild strike and eventual studio agreement (Sep 27 2023)

Thompson Reuters suit against AI company that trained on TR's content goes to jury trial (Sep 26 2023)

Official links

US Copyright Office homepage for their coverage on AI investigations (continuously updated)

Congressional research report on the issue of AI use and copyright law (Sep 29 2023)

[max1461]

I have a claim which you're not going to believe—and which you shouldn't, because it's patently extraordinary—but which is true. Or, it's true in a sense, and a genuinely meaningful one, although not true in full generality. Because of the unusual circumstances in which I grew up and the unusual combination of ways my brain seems to work, I believe that I grew up in some way "acultural". I mean, look, obviously I'm here, speaking English, knowing when you're supposed to say please and thank you, etc. I didn't grow up totally acultural. But, like, there are so many ways in which I look at the elements of the ambient culture around me, and I look at my own life experience, and I go "nope, didn't pick that one up, I was too weird for that one". You know. People talk a lot about "socialization", but like... what you take away from your childhood socialization depends on how your brain works. And if you're neurodivergent or otherwise some type of person who does not fit the mold, this might not be the "typical" set of take aways!

Anyway, I was weird, and my parents raised me unusually, and on net I feel like my relationship to the ambient culture was in many cases not one of "absorbing" but one of... other stuff. Other types and coming-into-contact-with. And this is surely true for everyone, but I do think that circumstance and neurotype will make it more significant or noticeable for some than others.

[darkpoisonouslove]

Spoiler. Perhaps Griffin and Valtor based because of who I am as a person?

...The fact that I had trouble thinking of anything about Griffin x Valtor because I have a lot of ideas for them for the rewrite but all of them are discarded in various degrees. I changed the concepts of those scenes and the characters so many times that I have no idea what is going on anymore. That said, I was looking at my notes and I got an exciting, fresh angle to Valtor's behavioral patterns.

Valtor is hilarious in this because after he imprisons Griffin, he's visiting her at least once a day. He just can't help it. She's the only one that truly understands the goal here, not to mention that the Trix make him uneasy. I'm gonna go on a slight detour here about the situation with the Trix to give a better idea of the situation because I wanted to talk about it.

I absolutely despise the idea that the Trix will be so cringefail fight each other over a man. Plus, Darcy is literally Griffin and Valtor's daughter so I have gone in a different direction. First of all, they remind Valtor way too much of the Ancestral Witches and he simply Does Not Vibe TM. However, they will be much more dangerous left unsupervised, especially if any of the ex Coven members get a hold of them. Now while the Trix were with Darkar, they met some of the ex Coven members but, thankfully, none of them mentioned Valtor and his role in events so the Trix are blissfully unaware of who he is.

Valtor would like to keep it that way so he focuses on his divide and conquer strategy where they are concerned. He tries to make them jealous of the attention he pays to each of them but Icy is the only one who might be interested in him romantically sexually. Darcy wants his approval to a point where even she can't understand why until she hears that he was partners with Griffin and she remembers that she had the same feeling towards Griffin so what gives; is he her father and Griffin - her mother (as she has been suspecting for a while now)?* And Stormy just simply does not care as long as there's some shit to wreck AND she's with her sisters. (I can't afford another tangent so I'm gonna put the thing about Stormy in the tags.)

*Imagine the heart attack that Valtor almost has when Darcy starts asking him about his past with Griffin. They have an extremely funny case of misunderstanding where Valtor has heard enough about the Trix' relationship with Griffin to know that they suspect she has some kind of connection to the Coven because she knows things that she shouldn't know so he assumes that Darcy is trying to make him give himself away as part of the Coven and a creation of the Ancestral Witches. Meanwhile, Darcy is just trying to piece together the timeline and figure out if Griffin and Valtor are, in fact, her parents and she's getting so fucking frustrated by Valtor's extremely vague responses that she starts suspecting that he is hiding something about the Coven as well.

So Valtor resorts to plan B, which is to bait them with promises of power. Now the Trix literally need him and the protection he can give them or it's back to jail for them, and they are painfully aware of that fact. Unfortunately for him, that leads them to start digging and finally figure out what the deal is with him but anyway. All of this to say that the Trix have a completely different understanding of his quest for gaining more power and the ways in which he means to accomplish it. For them power is a literal means of survival and their one patented strategy is to steal the most powerful magic they can find so that it's theirs and no one else's. And that is exactly what Valtor convinces them is his own approach - steal all the powerful magic you can. Basically that is what show!Valtor does. However, that is literally just a front and not his main Objective TM and that is what brings me back to Griffin.

Not only was Griffin the only one who was ever truly his partner and not just standing by him because of the Coven's agenda or for personal gain, but she also knows his true method of collecting power - by dictating what people think. If you look at his behavior on the show, Valtor is constantly manipulating people via promises of what they want. There's the Trix, Cassandra and Chimera, Diaspro, even Bloom. Basically, the true power that he collects is the ability to control people's desires and from there directing entire kingdoms to get what he wants. And Griffin gets that. That was her goal as well - to change people's behavior towards dark magic users, which could be accomplished through Valtor's methods of drawing to his side people in key positions of power. Griffin does a certain amount of influencing the thoughts of her own students and their parents (some of whom are royalty/otherwise important political figures) as well.

She's the only one who truly gets his brilliance and he so likes to be admired. The Trix would not understand his true genius and he'd burst at the seams if that goes unrecognized. So he goes to her to brag. He wouldn't tell Griffin the most important details, of course, even if it wouldn't hurt since he's so sure of his victory over her and his ability to keep her imprisoned. This is definitely not the hurt and trust issues of her betrayal resurfacing alongside the simple fact that he misses her. Not just his partner in crime, but the person who would always appreciate him in full, see all of him and his brilliance that is so painfully disregarded by the sheer fact that his true form is characterized by the brute force of his demonic self.

You crying yet?

I should thank you for this ask since it literally focused for me Valtor's entire plan and behavior. I have a much more complete idea of the s3 story now than I did before I started attempting to answer this.

[tzigone]

The Redeemed Rogues

Bouncing around ideas for my headcanon reboot. Now, we all know Flash has an inordinately large number or Rogues that have been redeemed at one time or another. Since my headcanon characters will actually age and their stories will have ends, unlike real comics where they have to be kept in play, I'm thinking about what to do with these folks after they quit their criminal careers. I don't like them bouncing between good and bad - those that are redeemed stay so (and there's no mind-control making them go good).

Al and James are the ones that matter to me, I know Hartley matters to others. And Mick happened in the comics, too. Chime in on which villains you think should or shouldn't go straight, but Al and James are non-negotiable in my universe.

Albert Desmond - First rogue to go straight. Well, he'll quickly become engaged to Rita (maybe meets her on work release?). But he has to get a job. We know from issue 153 that he worked at an industrial company and was offered promotion to supervisor - any idea what he'd actually be doing?

I'm not sure on the idea of kids yet - depends on how his mental health is. While he'll still be hypnotized by Zoom a couple times, I'm definitely not going with Dragon's Eye thing, so he doesn't have that to worry about.

Mick Rory - Well, he got tired of being in jail. Got a straight job. In the comics, it was in a glassworks so his parole officer could frame him. I'm fine with that, but if anyone thinks any other jobs, let me know. His wages will have to be garnished to pay for the damages he's caused to buildings through arson.

I'm much more silver age on Mick's origin. A big show to impress a girl. Though he's not as fickle as Cold. Anyway, he'll probably find a woman who likes dramatic displays. Get married, and maybe have a kid.

James Jesse - Honestly, I just really enjoyed reading him in the '80s Blue Devil comics and then later popping up in '90s Impulse. He's just fun in those. So, like many villains, he has a great invention. His anti-grav (probably not using air pressure version because it's harder for me handwave the science) is something that could be patented. I'm not sure if it's useful for airplanes or hover cars. But it'd be great for getting people out of burning buildings. I think it'd be good for moving things - from furniture to stock in warehouses.

He's not the settle down type. I see him bouncing from occupation to hobby and back as he gets bored with one thing and moves on to the next.

Hartley Rathaway - I admit to finding the incredibly bribing first appearance of his parents kind of amusing. I feel he's more defined by his dynamic with Wally. Do you think they should still be killed?

Then there are his personal relationships. I didn't read New 52 for various reasons. I understand he was married to Barry's boss there. That seems less likely with Barry not being youthified. And a large percentage of gay men are not in monogamous relationships, so it might be nice to explore that. Of course, I didn't read, so the marriage may not have included sexual monogamy.

Leonard Snart - He just gets older. After Barry's "death," there's little reason to keep up the show. Barry comes back, but he stays retired.

I've said before that his cold gun is worth a fortune. Great for police officers and home defense. And, depending on how it works for stasis-ness, it would be amazing for EMTs. And yeah, kids are going to get ahold of them and shoot each other with them - but hey, it's not like it hurts anyone.

He would be so rich, and him being rich off the dollars of police departments is amusing. He'd take care of his sister. I can't decide what to do with her - her focus was all about Roscoe originally, which makes her unwilling to give up and kinda one note. Either her motivation changes, as with the comic, or she loses her drive for some reason. Since Barry won't stay dead, maybe she finds out Roscoe was cheating or something. Or she could be given an entirely new motivation.

Anyway, Leonard will live well, and fall madly in love two or three times a year. He's very fickle, though, so it never lasts more than a couple months.

[princessdreamie]

DBH part 77

Na wasnt dumb. She knew she was spotted but while Sa shouldn't think about it that much, C was surely on to her antics. After all that happens, Na shouldn't have gone out without her parents or her maids.

But the girl had enough of this treatment. She had proven more than enough that she could handle herself. But still, the nagging feeling of being caught was making her scared.

C gave Sa a quick rundown on why Na isn't supposed to go anywhere alone for the time being. He was fairly certain that J & K wouldn't let her go out alone. The boy had no worries that the young girl would do something stupid but he was also aware that she is still too young to be out in the open.

Throughout the tour the lady explained some stuff while Na kept looking over her shoulder to see if they were still following her. The tourguide noticed that and called her by her alias instead of her actual name. As Na was hoping that their 2 followers did hear any of it, C & Sa were shocked at this revelation. Sa began to laugh quietly while C was wondering what she was thinking.

As the tour came to a close, the guide came up to the young kid and asked if she would like to meet some doctors personally. Na in her head was super excited but then she remembered that her cousin & his friend were on her heels but b4 she could say anything she got pushed by the lady into a room.

The teens were not feeling ok with that & called Na's home.

Inside the room

The girl was Facing an older but gentle looking man. The tour guide explained how much the little kid was interested in their tour & praised her interlect. The man, Doc Dawner, thanked her and asked to speak with her alone. Once the lady left, Na got nervous. She had researched a bit about this hospital & read some stuff about the man across from her.

He was a doctor in internal medicine. A cardiologist to be exact. Not knowing what to do, Na told him that she was happy to meet him but that she ask had to go back to meet her 'dad'. The man stopped her and told her to drop the act. He knew the guy who was actually written in the tourist. And he one that he only had sons but that was something the tourguide didn't know.

Na apologized for deceiving them & all that. Dawner just laughed & offered her a seat. 20 mins go by after a whole bunch of questions on her end. The man was astounded by her thirst for knowledge of medicine. He asked her if she always wanted to be in the medic field when she grows up. She told him some of the stuff that had happened to her in the past, including her own condition

The doctor listened carefully and told her if she ever though of perusing her dream & is studying with her best efforts, he would see if he could give her a hand in finding her a carrier. Na was very thankful but she would need time to think about it.

As she finally left his office, the 2 young adults were already standing impatiently I'm the hall.

At first she wanted to make up something to get herself out of trouble but C Knew her tricks and demanded some answers.

Feeling defeated Na caved & told them about her homework & that she didnt realize that she had to register for the tour b4 hand.

Sa laughed at the girl's naivety but she could understand where she was coming from. C wasn't as easy to sway like her tho. As he called her home her patents were not available but instead was told that everyone from the staff was looking for her.

C promised the main butler to keep it to himself but she should hace at least have one of them know that she left her house. Na felt bad for her house staff but if she told any if them she would just get stared at. And that was something she tried to avoid.

[tfblovesfood]

The Rise (and Crumbcoating) of DIY Cake Decorating

Disclaimer: this post contains some Amazon links (especially for those cake decorating books). I may earn commissions through purchases as an affiliate, which may pay for my bills - LOL.

Decorating a DIY birthday or other occasion cake is a choice, AND AN OFTEN GREAT ONE!

Many families opt to be their own cake designers for their kids, either because they want to save money or cater for their special diets (GFCF, vegan, diabetic, etc.).

So, how did the practice of making your own edible red-letter-day centerpiece start?

Before about the ‘50s, almost all low-to-middle class families often ate simple cakes with simple icings. The cake decorating tips and piping bags were mostly left to the pros. Believe it or not, pastry chef Dewey McKinnley Wilton was teaching bakers THAT ART in nationwide hotels, starting in 1929, on the head end of the Great Depression.

A year later, John D. Duff applied for a patent for an “invention that relates to a dehydrated flour for use in making pastry products and to a process of making the same.” He dehydrated flour, molasses, sugar, shortening, salt, baking soda, powdered whole egg, ginger, and cinnamon. All the home baker - burdened by the Depression - had to do was just add water, bake it into a pan, and call it a cake.

And that disappointed home bakers in the ‘50s. Though the addition of two eggs in most brands’ mix instructions - and later, oil - improved cake texture, they were yearning for more than just a plain cake, especially at birthdays.

Enter Ernest Dichter, an Austrian psychologist. He discovered that housewives who made cakes from mixes often were disappointed by the results, even if they followed the instructions to the letter.

He wrote, “This is typical of what the average housewife said: 'Yes, I'm using a cake mix; it saves me a lot of trouble but I really shouldn't.’”

He persuaded cake mix companies to present suggestions for finishing the baked cakes in creative ways with frosting as well as include recipes for frosting flavors.

Magazines followed suit in piquing suggestions to decorate mix-made cakes. One McCall’s article offered instructions for one shaped like Humpty Dumpty.

And books on cake decorating followed into the ‘60s, with Wilton Enterprises soon expanding and reaping the increases of sales of their pastry bags, piping tips, and special food colorings as a result of Dr. Dicther’s persuasion. Specially shaped cake pans - and the first ones shaped like licensed characters, starting with Disney’s - also appeared.

Here’s me at 7, with a Disney-themed cake (decorated by DM, a Wilton School student) at an in-school birthday party. (Such moments are rare in recent years, especially in the USA, given the strict nutritional guidelines and the overemphasis on standardized testing.) Photo taken by my DF, 6/1996.

In 1974, Norman Wilton, son of Dewey, published The Wilton Way of Cake Decorating. 25 years later, Southerner Anne Bryn took cake mixes even further by penning the cookbook, The Cake Mix Doctor. (The 2009 sequel is available on Kindle.)

Fast forward to 2020, the nadir of the coronavirus pandemic. It seemingly was a real-life recreation of the Madeline episode “Madeline and the Tea Party” on a much larger scale.

Like Lord Cucuface’s allergic reaction that wrecked Sugar Dimples’s Hollywood-sized tea party blowout, social distancing guidelines all but shelved party plans for parents used to hosting kids’ birthdays at their local Chuck E Cheese’s locations, roller rinks, and even Walt Disney World, in which its four theme parks closed for about 4 months, to name but three places outside their homes.

For some parents, they shifted from ordering those fondant-cloaked centerpieces from specialty bakeries (or even those grocery store sheet cakes); grabbed their cake mixes or used recipes; and made their own creations. They turned to videoconferenced classes or subscription video courses to hone their piping skills.

Even some celebrities got into the homemade celebration cake act. Actress Stassi Schroeder made a birthday cake for casting director Beau Clark with Duncan Hines yellow cake mix and decorated it by marbling Duncan Hines chocolate and Pillsbury Funfetti frostings. After ringing it with the sprinkles, she dubbed it a “freaking homemade masterpiece.”

Mariah Carey also went the homemade route, baking her boyfriend Bryan Tanaka a Tiger King cake.

Stories like those proved that whichever their financial statuses, self-decorated-and-baked cakes always have their appeal.

Not skilled with a pastry bag and piping tips? That’s OK. Rick and Sasha Reichhart’s Extreme Cakeovers will transform your cake mix-made cakes into something that appears to cost some ten dollars a slice at your local bakery.

[zagreusapollyon]

Nope, not rage bait. And I don't think the platform should really matter.

The thing is, it seems that Wu was straight-up not involved in what happened with Lloyd after his brother's banishment. if he even checked up on Misako once about him, he would find out that his nephew is in a school for evil, which is more fucked up than people realize. It makes it look like he just ignored his brother's son for years after his death, not seeking him out or keeping contact with Misako as one of Lloyd's only living relatives. If the ninjas had not found Lloyd when they did, Wu would not have found out about his nephew's whereabouts for an even longer period.

Here's the thing, Lloyd is still Wu's responsibility. For a Spinjitsu master, keeping track of a child and making sure they're safe should not be as hard as people make it out to be. Lloyd was a goddamn nine-year-old, Wu can easily body the main cast.

Based on his abilities and capabilities, I'm saying he doesn't really do a spectacular job at making sure his nephew is safe. Yes, Lloyd's destiny as the green ninja puts him at risk, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't still be going crazy trying protect a kid.

If Wu or Misako had actually taken care of the kid, so many things wouldn't have happened. The release of the Serpentine, the Great Devourer, Harumis Villain arc, Garmadon's revival as an oni, etc.

Honestly, Lou deserves way more slander than he gets. He neglected his son so badly that if it wasn't for the fang blade, Cole would have gone to ignore his father for YEARS. The only reason Cole even went to his father was for his mission, if he had it his way, he would not have contacted his father AT ALL. Yes, they made up eventually, but that doesn't erase the years of trauma he inflicted on Cole. He continuously ignored and neglected his son, and tried to force his image of an ideal son on his kid, and mind you, this all happened from the time Cole lost his mother up to his teenage years. If he was a real person, he would get FLAMED by people for his shitty ass patenting.

I can acknowledge that losing his wife hurt him, but that does not mean he can ignore and neglect his son and prioritize his work and family honor just to cope with his grief.

And you know what pisses me off the most? He did all these things and still had the AUDACITY to believe he was the one who was owed an apology. He believed himself to be entitled to an apology from Cole, even though he was in the wrong.

I'm glad they reconciled, but this does not excuse his behavior.

Yeah, but they never really got around to parenting their kid. Julien died a few months after Zane's creation, and Ray and Maya were kidnapped.

This might be my personal beef with how Ninjago writers handled Maya and Ray, but I wholeheartedly believe their kidnapping to be pure bullshit. These two were the fire and water ninjas, they fought in a goddamn war and battled alongside Wu and Garmadon, and you're telling me, they couldn't take on an old man with a crusty ass sword, in a weapons shop?

You know what, I'm gonna chuck it up to bad writing, at least they were good parents before they were kidnapped.

And I never said he is. My problem was that Garmadon, even with the venom, still fought hard to protect his son, he showed genuine love and was willing to shove his evil urges down to save his son. He fought until his last bit of strength ran out in the final battle, to stifle the overlord and give his son more advantage.

We see such an amazing parent he can be without the venom.

He was willing to sacrifice his life for his Son, he broke his vow to keep his son safe, and he tried to make it up to him by being there for him in all the ways that he could.

He's not a great parent at all, but he goes far beyond what anyone would expect a crazy warlord to be. He goes far above expectations placed on him.

Wu and Misako didn't, they never did what was expected of them, or even when they tried, they never reached the standard. These two are normal humans, they did not face the same challenges as Garmadon did, so I obviously have higher expectations for them than I do for Garmadon.

I never said it made them terrible people, you can't judge people based on one part of their character. Yeah, Wu has had his shortcomings, but it doesn't change the fact that he was a great mentor and a dear and trusted person.

Misako has made many mistakes, but we can't forget she also tried to make up for them, and the fact that she DOES love his son.

Lou was a grieving man, and while I still personally don't like him, I concede that this is my bias on his character.

I have no problem with these characters, but I do want to point out the flaws that most people seem to ignore. "Yes, this character is great, but these are their flaws." Because these flaws make the characters more interesting. Focusing on one aspect of these characters takes away from them.

I am sorry I went on a long rant lol.

OK we all agree that misako is a shit parent

BUT

Wu ain't that much better than her. This man lets his nephew stay in a school for future gang members and criminals, even though he has the full authority to take him back.

And after getting him back, he puts him in multiple dangerous situations with the other ninjas.

This is not a misako-defending post, I have thoughts on her too. She literally abandoned her kid at said school and decided to fuck off to who the hell knows where and study ancient scrolls. And not ONCE did she think about checking up on her goddamn SON.

Legit, the only semi-decent parental figure Lloyd has is the dude destined to bring doom and destruction wherever he goes.

Said dude risked his life to save his son, literally DIED, and perhaps the only person Lloyd genuinely could look up to.

Come to think of it, lord Garmadon is one of THE best parents in the show. The other being Ed and Edna.

Kai and Nya's parents were kidnapped by a fucking dude, Dr.Julien got down and dirty with death a little after Zane's creation and Cole's dad is a neglectful asshole. Jay is the only one with loving parents.

The bar is so low it's in the realm of the departed, yet they STILL manage to trip over it and dig even deeper.

No wonder these kids are the way they are, I would have ended up in an asylum after the first two traumatic events.

[jerseydeanne]

What really annoys me about being called a transphobe to me saying children shouldn't be allowed to make these decisions.. Is I'm actually supporting any future adults who want to make that decision. The data shows experimenting on your children makes future transitioning next to impossible. It produces a micro penis that can't even be turned into a vagina. They then use the colon that still smells like one. Removing healthy breasts of a girl is something that can never be grown back. These need to be decisions made by adults and with alot of therapy. We have children literally being butchered and it's celebrated and they can never reverse the decision again. This isn't like dang wish I studied poly Sci not business in college.

Stop letting the Government and teachers have agency over your children. Stop letting them turn our children into science project's. And stop letting them spread buzzwords like "gender affirming care" to mask what they are really doing here. It's all disgusting.

I agree with you. Kiddos are impressionable, and any parent choosing these avenues should be arrested for child abuse.

WTF is wrong with these people?

Just because I preferred to play with the boys didn't mean I wanted to become one.

Lupron was out in the 80s, and it was only for endometriosis. What a shock when I researched for it. Another way for big pharma to make more money and keep the patent on the drug.

IMO, you have a screw loose if you want to do this to your child. That Mother needs therapy. Notice it isn't the father's choice.

What this gender flipping is doing is making a weak country scared of its own shadows. How easy we will be to be conquered.

We are creating pussy whipped men.

I like a big strong man with a hard, you know what, lol.

Thank you for your ask!

Love, JD 😜💋

[dustbinflower0]

Do you ever feel bitter at what other people consider trauma? Lately I've had a lot of friends come to me about their experiences with child abuse and its always so very very very mild compared to what I went through. I almost feel bitter & jealous that it's the worst thing that happened to them. Ofc im always kind and Id never say that out loud. It still feels like such a cruel and unempathetic way to think, and I feel awful for it everytime bc I know I shouldn't compare everybody's hardships to my own. It's just sometimes hard for me to internally sympathize with others when their version of child abuse (parents messy divorce, yelling mother who threatened to stop paying for child's college, etc.) feels so small compared to the absolute depravity & hell I had to live through.

Yeah sometimes depending. Abuse is abuse and that is traumatic. But things like divorce or a patent not paying for college are not trauma, they are not out of the realm of common human experience or threaten the life or integrity of a person. I think that a lot of people overuse the word trauma for any negative thing that happens to them and that angers me